Ranji Trophy Round-Up: Prithvi Shaw Shines As Maharashtra Humble Bengal By 10 Wickets

A relentless Mumbai eked out a 106-run victory over a resilient Railways to record their fourth outright win in the Ranji Trophy Group D clash and take their points tally to 27 in Mumbai on Thursday. Railways openers Eshaan Goyal (103) and No. 7 batter Zubair Ali (115) struck centuries to keep Mumbai at bay for a large part of the final day with a stubborn sixth-wicket stand, but a stunning fightback backed by exceptional fielding in the final hour saw the 42-time champions clinch a memorable win.

Having affected a run-out but dropped a catch earlier, India batter Sarfaraz Khan showed superb anticipation and athleticism to cover the ground from first slip to leg slip and put in a dive to end the 167-run stand between Goyal and Ali.

Goyal had attempted a sweep off Musheer Khan (3/42), on which he got a top edge, and Sarfaraz showed incredible effort to break the partnership.

Sarfaraz ran hard and threw his arm harder in celebration, which even brought the physio out onto the field.

India all-rounder Suryansh Shedge then ran several yards to his left from mid-off to get rid of Ali off Musheer, and Mumbai were all over Railways once again.

Tanush Kotian (2/93) then pulled off a one-handed blinder at short midwicket for the eighth wicket, and soon, Railways folded for 265.

All of that transpired in a frenetic final hour of play after the drinks break.

Goyal and Zubair had kept Mumbai at bay for a total of 156 minutes, facing 212 balls and putting on 167 runs for the sixth wicket.

The day began with Mumbai adding another 60 runs to their overall lead and setting a target of 372 runs for Railways. Overnight batter Divyaansh Saxena remained unbeaten on 100 off 136 balls, with eight fours and a six.

Shams Mulani (4/69) struck thrice, and a run-out by Sarfaraz saw Railways reduced to 83 for five at one stage, following which Goyal and Zubair joined forces in the middle.

Mumbai captain Siddesh Lad admitted that the thoughts of a draw were on the back of their mind given what had happened in the Irani Cup match in 2016‑17. Mumbai had then lost to Rest of India by four wickets on the final day at the Brabourne Stadium.

"That (a draw) was always on the back of mind, because we had won the first innings and we have bad memories of CCI; we had lost the Irani Trophy on the last day of the match," Lad told reporters.

Mumbai collected the maximum points (27) at the end of first round among all teams, but Lad said his team does not want to sit on the laurels.

"Last two seasons (also), we did really well in the league stage. But we don't want to be satisfied with what we have done in the first four games. We have a long journey ahead and we want to do something special -- add something to the legacy of Mumbai this season," he said.

Meanwhile, Ajith Ram claimed 7/48 after scoring a fine hundred in the first innings as Tamil Nadu completed a huge victory -- by an innings and 259 runs -- against Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, who were bowled out for a mere 94 in the first innings in reply to TN's mammoth 571/7 declared, were shot out for 218 following on.

Ajith, who had scored 115 not out, ruled the roost with the ball as he added three more wickets to his tally to complete a seven-wicket haul.

For Chandigarh, last match's double centurion Nehal Pajni fell for 8 and 26, while in the second innings, Arjun Azad (60) and Manan Vohra (59) saved some blushes. From 155/2 at one stage, Chandigarh were bundled out for 218 after resuming at 189/7 on the final day.

Himachal Pradesh, meanwhile, walked away with three points against Rajasthan after Pukhraj Mann's 153 not out helped the hosts force a draw.

UP take three points as Baroda hold on for draw

Uttar Pradesh took three points on the basis of a first-innings lead while Baroda settled for one point after their Ranji Trophy Group A match ended in a draw in Kanpur on Thursday.

Resuming on 455 for eight, Uttar Pradesh were bowled out for 492 to take a 137-run first-innings lead over Baroda's 355.

Baroda, in their second innings, reached 169 for six in 76 overs, with skipper Atit Sheth (40 not out off 62 balls) and Mahesh Pithiya (14 not out) batting out the final day.

The visitors had slumped to 115 for six before Sheth and Pithiya stitched together an unbeaten 54-run stand to deny UP further breakthroughs.

Earlier, Adarsh Singh's 162 and Madhav Kaushik's 137 had powered UP's first-innings total. Adarsh was named Player of the Match.

The three points lifted UP to second place in Group A with 19 points, one ahead of Baroda (18) and seven behind leaders Vidarbha, who beat Madhya Pradesh by an innings and 20 runs inside three days on Wednesday.

Jammu & Kashmir secured three points on the basis of their first-innings lead after their Ranji Trophy Group A match against Puducherry ended in a draw in Sringar.

Resuming their second innings, Puducherry reached 269 for six in 65 overs, with Aman Khan unbeaten on 52 and Ankit Sharma scoring 62.

J&K had earlier declared their first innings at 555 for six in reply to Puducherry's 385, with Shubham Khajuria leading the charge with 190 off 330 balls.

Qamran Iqbal also scored a fine 160, while Kawalpreet Singh contributed 70.

Khajuria was named Player of the Match for his career-defining knock.

J&K collected three points, while Puducherry took one.

Nagwaswalla's four-for powers Gujarat to innings win over Kerala

Arzan Nagwaswalla grabbed 4/24 as Gujarat thrashed Kerala by an innings and 64 runs on the fourth and final day to move to the third place behind Bengal in the Ranji Trophy Group C standings in Ahmedabad on Thursday.

Resuming at 41 for one following on, Kerala lost their remaining nine wickets for 150 runs to be bowled out for 191 in 88 overs.

Abhishek Nair, who was unbeaten on 29 overnight, added nothing to his score before falling to Nagwaswalla.

Sachin Baby, who was yet to open his account at stumps on day three, made a patient 52 off 182 balls but found a little support as Gujarat wrapped up the innings.

Nagwaswalla struck twice towards the end to dismiss MD Nidheesh and Nedumankuzhy Basil for ducks and complete his four-wicket haul.

Chintan Gaja, Siddharth Desai, and Amit Desai chipped in with a wicket apiece, while Siddharth finished with two.

Earlier, Kerala had been dismissed for 279 in their first innings in reply to Gujarat's 534 for nine declared, conceding a lead of 255 runs.

Urvil Patel was adjudged Player of the Match for his unbeaten 210, a career-best First-Class score, while Vishal Jayswal contributed 77.

The red-ball season now takes a break, with the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy scheduled to begin on November 14 across multiple venues, ahead of the IPL mini-auction in Goa on November 16.

The Ranji Trophy will resume with its fifth-round matches on January 17 next year.

Rajat Paliwal continued his sparkling form with centuries in both innings as Services played out a draw against Delhi with the latter taking three points on first-innings lead.

Delhi now have seven points from four matches to be placed fifth.

Paliwal scored an unbeaten 111 in the first innings and followed it up with 116 in the second to earn the Player of the Match honour.

Services, who made 266 in their first innings, conceded a 78-run lead after bowling Delhi out for 344.

Services then declared their second innings at 397 for nine, powered by Paliwal's century and Mohit Ahlawat's attacking 142 off 150 balls.

Chasing 320, Delhi were kept in the contest by Yash Dhull, who struck an unbeaten 104 off 104 balls, including 11 fours and two sixes.

Services (two points) earned one point and remained second from the bottom.

Odisha, Jharkhand settle for a point each

Jharkhand and Odisha settled for one point each in their Ranji Trophy Group C encounter after the hosts reached 280 for seven in reply to Jharkhand's 433 for eight declared on the final day.

Both teams took one point each as Odisha's innings remained incomplete, denying Jharkhand a first-innings lead and the additional two points.

Resuming at 23 without loss, Odisha were lifted by Swastik Samal (80) and Anil Parida (57), while wicketkeeper-batter Rajesh Dhuper remained unbeaten on 39 when the match ended.

Aditya Singh was named Player of the Match for his 104 off 298 balls.

Tripura stun Saurashtra by 133 runs for first win of season; Hyderabad clinch thriller

Unfancied Tripura pulled off a stunning 133-run victory over former champions Saurashtra with off-spinner Sandip Sarkar and pacer Abhijit Sarkar sharing seven wickets between them in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group B match in Agartala on Thursday.

Chasing an improbable 342-run target, Saurashtra were bundled out for 208 in their second innings as Tripura celebrated a memorable moment in their cricketing history, which also happened to be their first win of the season.

Off-spinner Sandip and pacer Abhijit led Tripura's charge to the triumph, adding to their Elite group wins over Himachal Pradesh and Goa in previous years.

Saurashtra started the day at 131 for seven with seasoned Arpit Vasavada and Chetain Sakariya looking to mount an unlikely fight.

But Sakariya fell in the day's first over to Abhijit and the end seemed near for the two-time champions.

But Vasavada (89, 189 balls) and Neel Pandya (9, 63 balls) added 59 runs for the ninth wicket to delay the inevitable.

Abhijit returned to dismiss Pandya, pushing Saurashtra to 191 for nine, and the dismissal also extended the first session.

Vasavada, who fought gallantly to reach fifty in 122 balls, was the last man to depart, as skipper Manishankar Murasingh's throw found the stumps to catch the Saurashtra batter short of crease.

It was Tripura's first win of the season from four matches, and pushed them up to seventh place in the table with six points.

That the northeastern side recovered from a massive innings defeat against Karnataka in its last match to beat a traditional powerhouse makes the achievement all the more commendable.

Saurashtra continued to occupy the third position on the table with 13 points from four matches.

Chasing a tough 259-run target, Hyderabad eked out a thrilling one-wicket win over Chhattisgarh at Secunderabad.

Aniketh Reddy (39 not out) and Rakshan Readdi (15 not out) added 39 runs for the 10th wicket stand to see the hosts home in 79.4 overs.

The win also propelled Hyderabad to the top of the table with 20 points from four games, followed by Karnataka (16 points).

Maharashtra humble Bengal by 10 wickets to top Group C, expose batting frailties in Ranji clash

Maharashtra completed a crushing 10-wicket victory over Bengal in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group C match at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Thursday, chasing down a target of 112 in just 19.4 overs.

The win helped Maharashtra garner seven points, including a bonus point, from the match and dethrone Bengal from the top of the group with 19 points. Bengal moved a place down to second with 18 points.

Skipper Prithvi Shaw led the chase from the front with an unbeaten 53 off 50 balls, striking three fours and four sixes in his second fifty of the season.

Sachin Dhas remained not out on 61 off 68 deliveries, hitting 10 boundaries, as Maharashtra finished with 114 without loss.

Bengal were bowled out for 186 in 54.4 overs in their second innings, adding just 110 runs while losing their remaining six wickets in less than 31 overs.

For Shaw, the half-century was a timely return to form.

The former India Test opener, who has fallen out of favour, had managed scores of 21, 0, 17 and 12 in his previous four innings.

Bengal's resistance rested largely on Abhishek Porel and Sumanta Gupta, who struck contrasting half-centuries.

Porel top-scored with 65 off 84 balls, while Gupta made 59 off 93 deliveries.

The pair added 64 runs for the seventh wicket after Bengal had slumped to 87 for six, but their stand only delayed the inevitable.

Once Porel fell at team's score of 151, caught by Digvijay Patil off left-arm spinner Hitesh Walunj, the innings unravelled.

Gupta was the last batter dismissed, bowled by Pradeep Dadhe.

Having done the damage with his resolute 27 from 70 balls batting at No. 11 in the first innings, new ball bowler Dadhe led the Maharashtra attack with four for 48 from 17.4 overs, while left-arm spinner Walunj also claimed four wickets, conceding 53 runs.

All-rounder Tanay Sanghvi, who played a decisive knock of 60 not out to give Maharashtra the crucial first innings lead of 75 runs, chipped in with two for 59, including the important wickets of Sudip Kumar Gharami (12) and Sudip Chatterjee (0).

Bengal skipper Abhimanyu Easwaran endured another disappointing outing, falling for nine after scoring 10 in the first innings.

The India Test hopeful has managed just one half-century -- 56 against Services -- in eight innings this season, underlining his struggles for consistency.

Ankur Paul (32) was the other notable contributor in the second innings, while all-rounder Shahbaz Ahmed fell for a duck after facing 15 deliveries.

Maharashtra's victory was built on a crucial first-innings lead of 75 runs.

After Bengal were bundled out for 143 in 36.5 overs, the visitors responded with 218 in 82.5 overs.

Bengal's Mohammed Shami was the standout bowler in that innings, returning figures of four for 37, while Shahbaz Ahmed took three for 39.

Sanghvi was later named Player of the Match for his all-round contribution -- 60 not out and bowling figures of three for 30 and two for 59 across the two innings.

The result was particularly impressive for Maharashtra given the interruptions caused by rain, overcast conditions and bad light over the last four days here.

For Bengal, the defeat exposed familiar batting frailties and cost them the Group C leadership.

Tamil Nadu defeat Chandigarh by innings and 259 runs in Ranji Trophy

Ajith Ram claimed 7/48 after a fine hundred in the first innings as Tamil Nadu completed a huge victory by an innings and 259 runs against Chandigarh in their Ranji Trophy Elite Group D clash in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Chandigarh, who had rolled over for a mere 94 in the first essay in reply to TN's mammoth 571/7 declared, were bowled out for 218 after following-on here on the fourth day.

Ajith, who had scored 115 not out in TN's only outing with the bat, ruled the roost with the ball on the fourth day as he added three more wickets to his tally to complete a seven-wicket haul.

For Chandigarh, the last match's double centurion Nehal Pajni fell for 8 and 26 while in the second innings, Arjun Azad (60) and Manan Vohra (59) saved some blushes as they once again suffered a batting collapse.

From 155/2 at one stage, Chandigarh were bundled out for 218 after resuming at 189/7 on the final day.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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